April Letter from our President

Posted onApril 24, 2012

With the very early arrival of spring in Minnesota this year, I hope everyone has been enjoying it with their horses.

For us here at WDA of MN, we have been busy!

March found us at the National Fjord Horse convention at the U of M giving a demonstration and talk on Western Dressage. Laurie With, our VP, and her darling Fjord “Oz”, gave a basic level, walk/trot test demonstration. Laurie, along with AnnMarie, gave a talk and covered several areas of horse and rider position, along with western tack. The National Fjord Horse had several Fjord horses on hand for other demonstrations, along with many booths set up selling their wares. Oh you should see the hats they wear! I was thinking of getting a Fjord just for the hats! AnnMarie purchased one for herself for an upcoming trip. Personally I think it is for looking good driving her fat Mini around the yard. Fjords are a darling breed and a perfect fit for amateurs.

March also found Billie Jo and AnnMarie at a WD Clinic held by Judy Conger and her ladies Group, the “Centaur Horsewomen.” Judy has “get togethers” a couple of times a month with ladies, and men, and they work on Dressage principals. There were demo’s given by Jennifer Klitzke and her Tennessee Walker Mare. Yes, WD for Gaited horses as well. Jan Halter gave a demo as well on her advanced quarter horse. Contact Judy for her next get together.

April found us at the Minnesota Pinto Horse Clinic with a booth. Dr. Alan Shackleford was the speaker at this event. He covered how mind set can affect not only your riding, but how it affects your horse as well. Not just in the show ring, but in training and life in general. The afternoon was followed up with Joyce Swanson giving a talk and clinic on Western Dressage. Joyce worked with several groups of four riders and their horses all in different levels of riding and training. Very informative afternoon. Joyce is not only a great clinician she has great humor thrown in as well. Joyce makes riding and training fun for the rider and the horse. The Minnesota Pinto Horse did a great job in putting this clinic together.

The weekend of April 21st, Jack Lieser from the WDA of Texas was in town giving a WD Clinic. Jack will be holding a series of clinics held throughout the summer. Rider spots are closed, but room for auditing at each of the clinics is available. They will be held at Lakeview Farms in Hugo. Check the calendar on the WDA of MN web site for upcoming dates, www.wdamn.org.

Judy Conger held her WD get together over weekend as well, they had 11 riders and 10 auditors. Contact us for more details, info@wdamn.org.

That brings us to the Minnesota Horse Expo and the closing of April. We were contacted and invited to speak at the Expo this year. We’re all very excited about this and were putting together what we know will be a very informative talk for those interested in WD. We will be sharing information at 3:00pm Friday in the Cattle Barn, and 4:00pm Saturday in the Cattle Barn as well. You can find us at booth #L-2535. “Julie Goodnight” will be visiting us in our booth, be sure to stop by and say hello.

We are in Need of Volunteers for 4 Sundays this summer with helping out at local Dressage Shows taking down the rings and packing materials away. In exchange, Nancy Porter, an “R” rated Dressage Judge, will sit and talk with us during the morning rides. She will answer our endless questions about dressage, and the movements of horse and rider. All of these shows will be held at the Washington County Fair Grounds in Lake Elmo. I have heard taking down the rings is the best part of the weekend and the most fun to be had! Look for those dates to be posted on the web site calendar.

We have a full summer planned ahead of us, and we shall post all we will be doing. We look forward to meeting everyone attending the Horse Expo, and ask you stop by and say hello.